Carbonating apparatus



7, 1951 w. J. BRENDEL ET AL CARBONATING APPARATUS v Filed March 17, 1948WlLLIAM J BREHDEL dosEPH S. SCHAPI'RO B3 ATTORNEY Awmwc omma Mee inappara us; r; M

Patented Aug. 7, 1951 CARBONATING APPARATUS William J. Brendel, EllicottCity, Md., and Joseph S. Schapiro, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors toSparkle Beverages, Inc., Ellicott City, corporation of Maryland Md., a n

Application March 17, 1948, Serial No. 15,354

This invention relates'to the art of producin carbonated beverages andmore particularly -to apparatus especially designed for theproduction ofcarbonatedmilk beverages;

While heretofore and prior to the present inventionvario'us attemptslhave been made to produce carbonated milk, as by incorporating carbondioxide gas into it the milk while agitating the milk in a closed vesseleither by the use of internal agitators or-by rocking or shaking more orless Violently the vessel in which the milk is contained, none of themhave been entirely satisfactory from the standpoint'of thequality of themilk beverage so produced, this forth'e reason that violent agitation ofthe milk durin the process of absorbing the carbon dioxide gas adverselyaffects the wholesomeness, palatability and marketable value of thefinal product. lrraddition tqthe foregoing, a serious problem in theproductionof' carbonated milk beverages has been to providefacarbonating' apparatus which is adequately designed to facilitatecleansing and sterilizationof all working parts thereof which arecontacted by the milk. 'The Federal and State laws governingsterilization of apparatus employedin the production of milk productsare exceedingly rigid and consequently the milk carbonating apparatusmust necessarily be of i a construction enabling itto be readilydismantled so that all parts thereof may be effectively cleaned andsterilized.

It is accordingly among the objects of the present inventionto providean apparatus for carbonatingumilk which is simple and efficient inoperation; pwhich insures maximum absorption 3 Claims. ((31. 261-112) bythe milk of the carbonating gas in uniform Other objects and advantagesof the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it

being understood. that said invention consists sabstantiallyin thecombination, construction, location and general-arrangement of parts,all as described in detail in the following specification, as shown inthe accompanying drawings and asfinally pointed out in the appendedclaims. Inlthe accompanying drawings, which are illustrative; of i apreferred construction embodying theprinciplesof the presentinvention:Figure l is an elevational'view pfthe car- Figure 2 is a top plan viewthereof; v

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View thereof;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the internal milk-receiving distributor;Figure 5 is an elevational view of the milkinjecting nozzle Figure 6 isa sectional view of the nozzle as taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5;and

Figure? is a sectional view of a detail of construction.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be observedthat the apparatus of the present invention includes a closed metalcontainer I 0 designed and equipped to operate as a pressure chamberinwhich the milk and carbonating gas are to be mixed. The container ll!isformed of two main separable parts, namely, a cylindrical bodymemberlland a dome-shaped top member l2, these members being respectivelyprovided with complementally formed annular flanges I3 and I4 adapted tobe detachably bolted together by a plurality of bolts l5. A suitablegasket lfi disposed between the flanges l3 and [4 forms an hermetic sealtherebetween. The body member H is provided with a bottom wall 16 thecentral portion of which is dished or otherwise depressed, as at ll, todirect the carbonated milk toward a discharge outlet l8 suitably fittedin the bottom wall of the container at a low point immediately adjacentthe cylindrical wall thereof. Preferably, this fitting projectslaterally through the wall of the container, as shown in Figure 3, asuitable valve l9 being secured to its freely projecting end forcontrollin the discharge of the carbonated liquid from the container.

The dome-shaped top member [2 is centrally provided with an inletfitting 20 to which is detachably secured a standard type of dairyfitting 2| having divergent branches 22 and 23 for respective connectionwith conduits leading to suitable sources of supply of the milk to beearbonated andof the carbon dioxide gas for carbonating the milk. Asuitable control valve 24 is included in the milk supply conduitconnected to the milk inlet branch 22, while a separate control valve 25is included in the gas supply line connected to the gas inlet branch 23.Preferably, the top member l2 of the container is additionally providedwith a standard air release valve 26 and with a standard pressure reliefvalve 21. A standard pressure guage 28 is desirably connected into the;tank dome for ascertaining the pressure prevailing in the container I0during the process of carbonating the milk.

Adapted for removable disposition interiorly of 7 channel 35.

from the upper end of the cone, each such element being formed withoppositely inclinedupper 1 and lower surfaces 3 I. The upper 7 end of,the conical member 29 is closed, as'at 32, while formed ConeZBflitcontinues to absorb the carbonating gas 1 so that when the milk reachesthe bottom of the in the lower end thereof are aseries ofcircumferentially spaced openings 33 through which :the carbonated milkis delivered to the bottom Wall 16 of the container for final dischargetherefrom by way of the discharge outlet l8. I

Removably fitted upon the reduced upper end container and that duringthe course of its gravity flow downwardly over the corrugated surface ofthe cone 29 the thin film of milk uniformly absorbs the gas in largeamount, the gas absorptive capacity of the milk being very measurablyincreased by reason of the fact that the thin film of milk provides suchincrease in surface area as renders it capable of entraining thecarbonating gas in a maximum amount. As the milk courses downwardly overthecorru'gated surface of the :coneand is ready to be discharged fromthe container by way of its discharge outlet I it is fully andcompletely charged with carbonating gas.

It is, of course, apparent that the apparatus of v the present inventionis designed to-be operated of the conical member 29 is acup-shaipddistributor 34 the lower end bf which is inturned, as at 35,to provide an annular'upwardly presenting channel 36 for receiving themixture of mil-k and carbonated gas which is injected into the -container It! by way of the inlet fitting 20. The bottom wall 3 10f saidchannel 36 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spacedapertures 7 3,8, these -apertures being uniformly spaced and of a numbersufficient to insure uniform distribution of, the milk circumferentiallyabout the cone 29 at a level just below the perforated bottom of thedistributor 32. 7 "f V j'-In-order to insure proper injection of themilk and gas mixture into the distributor 32 the inlet fitting is.providedrwith a removable injector continuously for as long a period asmay be desired, the period of the production run depending upon thesupply of nilk available for carbonation. In any caseithemiIl: and gasiscontinuously injected into -'the apparatus for continuous dischargetherefrom in the form ofcarbonated milk ready to'be bottled or otherwisedispensed, the

nozzle- 38 in the form ;of a tube having a closed bottom end All and aseries of narrow slots 4| each out atanangle intc'the cylindrical wallof the "nozzle tube.

Preferably, these slots AH form angles'of approximately degrees eachwith 1'8? spent tothe vertical axis of the nozzle so as toefiectdischarge of the milk and gas mixture into thedistributor cup 3.4in the -formof a plurality or relativelywide attenuated streams whichimpinge. theinternal cylindricalsurface of the disflow of the milkthrough the apparatus being at .suchirate as not to build up anyappreciable volume of carbonated milkgwithin the container ID. .Ifdesired, suitablewcontrols (not shown) actuated by the level of theliquid in the container l ll may beemployed to interrupt injection ofthe milk; and gas into the containerfrom their respective sourcesofsupply automatically should the level of the carbonated-milk rise.aboveithe openings 3'3 in the base portion of the cone 29,

therebyinsu'ringj that said cone provides a maximum areaof -flow surfacefor the milkto be. carbonated. I I 1 "It willibe understood, ofcourse,thatwhile the apparatus :of the present invention is especiallyadapted'for use in the production of carbonated milk-beveragesit-isequally welliadaptedfor cartributor cup at a "level just above theannular The 'relative spacing of the nozzle slots is suchthatthe milkand gas mixture 1 is injected-into the, distributor cup in the form of aflared hollow stream having a minimum tendency to become turbulent or toswirl about its axis of'discharge.

I In operation of the apparatus, the milk to be carbonated is pumpedunder suitable pressure into the container simultaneously as thecarbonating gas is injected into the container. Inasmuch as the milk'andgas areinitially introduced to each other in the inletfitting 20, themilk discharged from: the nozzle 39 into the distributor cup 34 ispreliminarily charged with a certain amount of the gas. However, theamount of gas so initially absorbed bythe milk is insuifici'ent to causeany frothing thereof, in consequence of which; following its injectioninto the-distributor'cup 34, the milk is gently discharged therefrom byway of the apertures 38fupon the corrugated external surfaced theconical member29. The milk so discharged :upon said external corrugatedsurface of the cone continues to flow downwardly over the inclinedsurfaces 8! thereof in the form of a thin film, the gravity flow of thisfilm being more or It will be apparent, of course, that the interior ofthe cofntainer l0 is'filled with carbon dioxide gas under the pressurethereof as supplied to the bonating other beverage liquidsysuch as fruitjuices, bottling syrups, water and the like.

It will be understood further-that the apparatus as herein shown anddescribed is susceptible of various changes-and modificationswhich maybe made from; time to time without involvingrany departure'from thegeneral principles or real spirit of the present invention, and it isaccordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically,as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In an apparatus for producing a carbonated beverage; a scalablevessel adapted to receivesaid liquidintroducing means, and means fordistributing the liquid uniformly about the apex of said cone for"gravity flow downwardlyalong the conical surface thereof in theform'ofa circumferentially continuous relativelythin film; said liquiddistributing means being in the form of an annulus removably fitted overthe top of the cone,

said annulus being provided with an annularliquid-receiving channel thebase wall of which is perforated for discharge of the liquidonto the"coneat points closely spaced circumferentially f about the apex of' thecone;

2. In an apparatus for producing a carbonated beverage, a scalablevessel adapted to receive therein a carbonating gas at superatmosphericpressure, means for introducing into the gascharged interior of saidvessel a liquid to be carbonated by the gas, a cone disposed interiorlyof and in coaxial relation with respect to said vessel, said cone risingfrom the bottom of said vessel to a point adjacent the top thereof andbeing disposed with its apex in axial registry with said liquidintroducing means, means for distributing the liquid uniformly about theapex of said cone for gravity flow downwardly along the conical surfacethereof in the form of a circumferentially continuous relatively thinfilm, said cone being characterized in that it is of hollow constructionand is provided adjacent its base with openings extending through thewall thereof to facilitate discharge of the carbonated liquid from thevessel and in that the external surface thereof is provided with aplurality of axially spaced annular elements, each of said elementshaving surfaces inclined to facilitate gravity flow of the liquiddownwardly over the external surface of the cone, and liquid-dispensingmeans extending outwardly of said vessel and having communication withthe interior of said cone below the region of said openings.

3. In an apparatus for producing a carbonated beverage, a scalablevessel adapted to receive therein a carbonating gas at superatmosphericpressure, nozzle means for introducing into the gas-charged interior ofthe vessel a liquid to be carbonated by the gas, a cone disposedinteriorly of said vessel and having a corrugated external surface, saidcone rising from the bottom of said vessel to a point closely adjacentthe top thereof and being disposed with its apex in axial registry withsaid nozzle, and means provided at the apex end of said cone fordistributing the liquid to be carbonated uniformly about the peripheralsurface of the cone whereby the liquid is spread over the externalsurface of the cone for gravity flow downwardly thereof in the form of arelatively thin film having a substantial surface area exposed tocontact by the gas, said last-mentioned distributing means including aperforated annular channel into which the liquid is directed by saidnozzle means and from which the liquid is discharged to the liquid flowsurface of said cone.

WILLIAM J. BRENDEL. JOSEPH lS. SCHAPIRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,043,127 Mueller Nov. 5, 19121,455,930 Nobis May 22, 1923 2,212,275 Mojonnier Aug. 20, 1940 2,337,783Thompson et a1. Dec. 28, 1943 2,356,530 Pfiock Aug. 22, 1944

